


Surgery

by SociallyAwkwardFox (Maze_Runner_Fae)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance, Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6432169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maze_Runner_Fae/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iron Man 3<br/>Steve comes to visit Tony before his surgery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surgery

**Author's Note:**

> Just some random fluff I decided to write. Hope you all enjoy.

“It’s completely normal to be nervous about this. Who wouldn’t be nervous? It’s just open heart surgery. No big deal.”

“Isn’t talking to yourself a sign of insanity?” Rhodey dropped into the empty chair next to Tony’s hospital bed with an audible sigh. “You sure you want to do this? No one would blame you for deciding not to.”

“The alternative being keeping all the shrapnel in my chest? Even I know that’s not healthy.”

“Hell of a way to ring in the new year.”

“You know me. Always got to one up what I did the year before.”

Rhodey snorted at his best friend’s blatant deflections, but didn’t bother to point out his obvious posturing for once. “Well I definitely think you’re succeeding this year. If you do anything crazier than this next year, you’ll give Pep and I a heart attack.”

“Wouldn’t want that to happen. I’d hate to have to sit by your bedside like you’re doing. It’d be so boring.”

“I’d hate to inconvenience you.”

“Good. My time’s too valuable to be wasted.” The two fell into silence while Tony absentmindedly tapped out an unsteady rhythm on the arc reactor. “Where is Pepper?”

“Freaking out. She doesn’t want to make you any more jittery than you already are so she’s in the waiting room downing enough coffee to fill a small swimming pool. There is someone else here to see you.”

“They cleared Happy?”

“No. He’s still on bed rest. Captain Rogers is here. I think he would have come to see you sooner, but he’s been trying to calm Pep down.”

“Figures. His boy scout training at work no doubt.”

“I was never a boy scout.” Steve pushed off the door jamb and went to stand at the foot of Tony’s bed with his hands resting on the footboard. “It’s called being polite.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you chivalry is dead?”

“We both know the answer to that.”

“It bears repeating. You’re going to give some poor girl a heart attack because they aren’t able to handle your overwhelming perfection.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

Tony let out a hum of acknowledgement as he went back to tapping out random patterns on his soon to be removed arc reactor. The thought of the heavy object being removed from his chest made his lung constrict painfully, but he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe it was just nerves at the thought of people messing around in his chest while he was unconscious or maybe he wasn’t ready to part with the thing that he now thought of as a part of him. He’d grown used to the steady glow of the arc reactor on nights his insomnia kept him up for hours on end. Whenever he was thinking or needed something to do with his hands he would mess with the arc reactor subconsciously.

“What are you thinking?” The combination of Steve’s gentle voice and a large hand softly squeezing Tony’s thigh snapped him out of his own head.

“Where’d Rhodey go?”

“He wanted to give us some time alone. Now, tell me what you’re thinking. Are you having second thoughts about this?”

“No. Not really.”

“Why not really?”

“I don’t know. I know I need to get this taken out. It’s a weakness that’s been used against me before, but…”

Skilled fingers that Tony knew to be capable of drawing beautiful pieces of art and wielding a shield with a ferocity that would put Ajax to shame danced along the arc reactor. “It’s a part of you. Like my shield is part of me. Even after you get it taken out, it’ll still be a part of you. You’ll need it for the Iron Man suit. It just won’t be there all the time.”

“You make it should so easy. Haven’t you heard that change is never easy?”

“I’m plenty familiar with how uneasy change can be, but I’m also familiar with how rewarding change can be if you don’t fight against it.”

“Have you considered being a motivational speaker? Might be something to fall back on when your age finally catches up with you.”

“Back to the age jokes?”

“They’re classics.” Tony tangled his fingers up with the free hand Steve had left on the mattress just within his reach, probably for that very reason. “At least it wasn’t a cradle robbing joke.”

“If we were going by physical age, you’re actually older than me so it’s not really cradle robbing.”

“Technicalities.”

“Don’t you live for technicalities?”

“I appreciate them, when they’re not being used against me.”

“You just don’t like to lose.”

The sound of Tony’s laughter covered up the clicking of a pair of heels against the tiled floor. “It’s time. Will you be joining us in the waiting room, Steve?”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Good luck, Tony.”

“See you in a few hours, Pep.”

“You better.” Pepper gave a rueful smile before disappearing back out the door with a signal for the doctors to come in the room as she went.

“I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Hopefully with a burger.”

“We’ll see.”

“I’m taking that as a yes.”

Steve let out a snort as he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to Tony’s lips just as a group of doctors came swarming into the room. The moment Steve took a step back from the hospital bed, two nurses swooped in and started messing with all the equipment Tony was hooked up to. He sent Tony one last smile before exiting the room so he wouldn’t be in the way of any of the people trying to do their job. That small smile was the last thing Tony saw before a cold feeling spread through his right arm and the world around him went dark.

* * *

 

Harsh fluorescent light had Tony blinking his eyes several times to get rid of the black spots the sudden brightness had caused. His eyes flicked over to a familiar form sitting in the chair next to his bedside with their feet kicked up and head lolling against their chest. How Steve managed to fall asleep in a chair that he looked to barely fit into completely baffled Tony, but he wasn’t about to complain. The man had probably hopped on the first flight out to California he could get with a haphazardly packed bag and no thought of sleeping on the five-hour flight.

“You’re staring.”

“I thought you were asleep.”

Tired blue eyes bore into Tony’s brown one with an intensity that he was still struggling to get used to. “Can’t.”

“Turning off the light might help.”

“I didn’t want you waking up in the dark.”

“That’s what lamps are for or did they not have them back in your day?”

“You already know the answer to that. How do you feel?”

“Like I’m pumped full of drugs.” Tony’s hand drifted up to brush against the spot where the arc reactor used to sit in his chest. “How’d it go?”

“Perfectly. Every piece of shrapnel was removed and there weren’t any scares during the operation. Now comes the hard part. Convincing you to take time to recover.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m known for being a model patient.”

“Pepper told me several stories that completely contradict that.”

“You can’t believe a word she says.”

Laughter bubbled out of Steve’s throat much to Tony’s indignation. “I highly doubt that. Pepper is quite a dependable woman.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“I didn’t think you’d be able to. What’s with the face?”

“How are you comfortable in that chair? It’s two times smaller than you are.”

“I don’t mind it.”

“You could join me up here.”

“Tony.”

“Come on, Cap. I bet it’s more comfortable than that chair and I don’t mind.” Tony shifted over to the other side of the bed as much as he could then patted the empty space next to him. “Promise to keep my hands to myself.”

“That’d be a first.”

With a heavy groan and a crack of his back, Steve pushed himself out of the lumpy hospital chair and eased himself down next to Tony. His back let out a sigh of relief at the feeling of soft pillows pressing against him instead of the hard chair back. The knots that had been forming between his shoulders since he found out about the surgery finally started to release. The feeling of Tony’s warm body pressed against the curve of his side was the last piece of the puzzle needed for Steve to completely relax.

“When do you go back to D.C.?”

“Didn’t plan that far ahead. Nat was the only one I told I was leaving. She promised to keep Fury off my back for as long as she could.”

“I’ll have to send her something as a thank you. What do Russian assassins like? Vodka?”

“Not sure. You’ve known her longer than I have.”

“I could upgrade her tech and her suit could use a redesign. Increasing the voltage output should be easy enough. If I ran cabling through the suit, I could really amp up the wattage.”

Steve let out a low groan as his buried his face in Tony’s messy hair. “This is going to be impossible. Go back to sleep. You can make Natasha more terrifying once you’re all healed up.”

“Spoilsport.”


End file.
